Flash Fanfiction - Episode 8 - Poisoned Arrow
by Reign Atkins
Summary: Cupid comes to town with tainted arrows. Barry becomes a liability after being struck. Caitlin is MIA... followed on from Chapter 10 of Episode 7.
1. Chapter 1

It was almost midnight, as a young woman, who had fled Sterling City's police custody, came to Central City and met with a former scientist in his apartment downtown. From the window, she observed the darkened street with her bow at the ready.

"Are you sure this poison is going to work?" she questioned the man, who stood behind her.  
"Give it a go and watch." He told her, with a sneer.  
She dipped one of her arrows into the jar that contained a distinct-looking red chemical and she loaded her bow. She lined up a target, a shady looking man. She took aim and fired.

She watched as her victim fell to the floor. A random woman with a husband checked to see that the man was ok.

He instantly admired the random woman. But it wasn't love, it was pure obsession. He began to bash her husband senseless. Until he was curled up on the floor cringing.

The woman pulled out her phone and started to call the cops.  
"Baby! I love you! Don't call the cops!" The stranger told her. She attempted to flee to safety with the man close at heel, out of the bow wielder's sight.

A smile formed across the face of the one holding the bow. She turned to the scientist behind her. "This chemical is perfect." She told him.

"It should be. It's been tested on meta-humans too. So the concentration is worth it's weight in gold. It's yours if you have the cash, miss...? You never gave your name." He replied.

She aimed an arrow to his head. "Call me, Cupid! Stupid! Oh, wait you can't!" she said, letting her arrow loose, right into the middle of the man's forehead, killing him where he stood.

The next morning, Barry ran on his cosmic treadmill, attempting to test out the limits of his speed. The past two weeks had proven that he and Cisco could take charge of everything, without a hitch when it came to protecting the city and running a large corporation, while Caitlin was on her honeymoon and Astrid… if the news reports were correct… got married to Oliver Queen.

He was shocked that Astrid had not told either one of them that she was getting married. But he figured that she would have had her reasons.

Barry had also managed to patch things up with Iris and his brother, Eddie Thawne. Who, as of a week ago, had moved in together. The thought that Iris and Eddie had become this serious, distracted Barry, making him trip over his own feet and fly backwards, into the wall behind him.

"Oh my god! Barry! You just ran 400,000 k's in only two minutes!" Cisco exclaimed excitedly, as he assisted Barry to his feet. "That's amazing! A new record! And you didn't even break a sweat, my hombre!" He gave Barry a high five.

The two of them walked back towards Cisco's computer to log in the data. "If you keep that up, you'll be travelling to alternate worlds, in no time!" Cisco said excitedly.  
"Cisco, for the last time, it is impossible to run so fast that I cause a breach to some alternate dimension. But something tells me that this is less about me, and more about you... You're distracting yourself over that news report, the other day. You will have to speak to her sooner or later. She gets back today." Barry told him.

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" Cisco replied, as he flicked his dark hair behind his ear and continued typing.  
"Do you know that you're not a great liar? But I will let it slide this time." Barry replied.

"Thank you. That's all I ask. Anyway, have you heard back from our other girl, Caitlin? Isn't she supposed to get back today too?"

"No I haven't. But like I said before, she is on her honeymoon. I don't expect her to call us. Or for that matter even come in early on her first day back." Barry said.

"It's Caitlin. The girl lives to work. She hasn't had a day off since she had that stomach bug seven years ago. And she hasn't been late to work since… actually I don't think she has ever come in late! Barry, do you want a coffee? I'm going to Jitters." Cisco finished.

Barry checked his phone, one missed call and a message from Joe.  
' _Come to Wright St, Downtown. Now!'_ _  
_"I would love to take you up on your offer, Cisco. But I'm heading downtown. Gotta work!" Barry said. He left ahead of Cisco, knowing full well that he was running late again. He swore that this time Singh might actually kill him for being late.

"Joe, Eddie... Captain Singh. What's the sitch?" he asked them.  
"Sitch, Barry?" Singh asked, "We have no time for your hip lingo right, now. We are trying to work. And now that you are… wow, ten minutes late… I would like for you to do your job!"

He held up a large arrow and examined the tip. "The story was that a man was struck by this and then attacked a young couple that came to help. I think Sterling City's vigilante is in town."

Barry raised his eyebrows. Surely, he would have known if Oliver had come to town. But he couldn't rule it out. "Any information on the attacker?" Barry asked Singh.

But Joe answered him, instead. "Reports say that he chased the woman after beating her husband to death. Both of them have gone missing and we suspect a kidnapping."

"So Barry, I need you to do your job and identify the DNA on this arrow." Singh added, "If we can find out who he is, we may be able to work out why the Arrow was after him. Joe, we need you to call Sterling City. Get them to send over any reports that they may have on their Robin Hood vigilante. I want him out of my city immediately!"

As Joe drove Barry and Eddie to CCPD, he turned up the car radio. "…Sterling City's officers are on the hunt for an escaped criminal who calls herself Cupid. They ask everyone to be on the lookout for a woman aged in her mid-twenties, with dark red hair and carrying a bow and arrow…This woman is considered highly unstable and dangerous..."

"I think that rules out the Arrow." Joe told them.  
Barry agreed, and knew the perfect place to get answers, "Joe, do you mind taking me to STAR Labs?" he asked.

"Why STAR Labs?" Eddie asked him. "We have the same equipment at the station."

"They have an extensive database on meta-human DNA." Barry lied. "The DNA could belong to a meta. I want to rule out that option."

Joe agreed, and drove him to the facility.


	2. Chapter 2

Barry returned back to STAR Labs to find a very frustrated Astrid! "What the hell is wrong with him!" She yelled, as she threw a pen across the room. Just missing Barry.

"Great to see you too! What did Cisco do now? What did I just walk into?" He asked defensively.

"Sorry, Barry!" she apologized. "Just that stupid friend of ours! I caught him on his way out of here to get coffee and somehow we ended up in an argument. I haven't seen him in two weeks and the minute I see him... Grr! We haven't had a fight like that since. God I don't know! It makes me wonder why I even came back to town at all!"

Barry picked up the pen and placed it on the desk in front of her. "I need to ask on Cisco's behalf. Why didn't you invite him to your wedding with Oliver?"

Astrid stared at Barry with confusion, and then it was as if everything had sunk in. "Wedding? What wedding? Oh my God! That wedding!" she said softly, "We never actually got married. Quite the opposite, actually. But I guess you guys only saw what the media displayed."

Barry could tell that his friend was clearly going through something, "Astrid. What happened in Sterling City?"

"Oliver and I broke up." She told him. Barry had not expected to hear that.  
"Um… How do you go from getting married to breaking up all in two weeks?" he asked her.

"Long story, short. We got married to lure out some crazy woman who goes by the name of Cupid... It was a sham proposal... you know the drill! Because this girl was obsessed with him. A few other things happened and we realized that those he is close to are his vulnerability." She wiped a small tear away, as if it were no big deal, and looked at the arrow in Barry's hands. "What the hell is that?" she asked him, pointing at the arrow.  
Barry sighed. "I think this belongs to Cupid." He told her.

"Oh no! Oh No! No! No!" Astrid said. "Because that would mean that she followed me here and that she is no longer in police custody!" She walked over to the window and opened the glass to let some fresh air in to the room.

"We heard on the radio that she escaped. I actually brought the arrow here as its part of a case that we're working on." Barry took the arrow and walked over to Caitlin's med bay. He began analyzing the DNA on the tip as fast as possible. He looked over at Astrid as he realized something interesting.  
"Astrid… It's not just blood that is on here. There is some other type of chemical." he told her.

"Yeah? What is it?" she asked him. But, before he could answer her, he saw something from his peripheral vision. An arrow had come in through the open window and was coming straight for her.

He knew that he had no time to move her out of the way. So instead, he ran into the direction of the arrow. It hit him in the shoulder and brought him to the ground.

"Barry!" Astrid blurted out as she crouched down over him. The arrow hadn't entered an artery, thankfully. A strange gaze came over his face. He sat up, as Astrid ran to get gloves and something to remove the arrow. "Wait there." She told him.

As she retrieved the first aid kit, she turned to see Barry standing right in front of her with a large grin on his face and the arrow, that he had removed, was lying on the floor. His skin had already healed over.

"I forget you have super fast healing abilities!" she put the first aid kit back down and Barry continued to follow her around. "Barry, you're making me a little uncomfortable. Can you give me a little space?" She asked him as his face was only inches away from hers.

"You heard the lady." Cisco's voice chimed in as he entered the room, staring at them both.

Astrid walked over to Cisco. As he handed her a hot coffee from Jitters. "An olive branch, for the boss." he told her. "I'm sorry for acting like the stupider version of myself, earlier. While I would like to say that it won't happen again, I think you and I both know our dynamics."

Astrid took the coffee. "And while I would like to say the longer version of ditto, I need to tell you that Barry just protected me from an arrow that came in from that window over there… But what I don't understand is how they shot it from this high up. I'm guessing it was Cupid and we need to get her back in to police custody, asap! Barry can you go find her?"

"Cupid?" Cisco asked, unsure as to what was going on.

Barry still wore the same smile on his face. "Anything you say, my love!" he told her. He went to leave, still wearing his Barry Allen clothes. "Barry what are you doing? You need to put on your suit, first!" she told him. He put on his suit and left as fast as he could to find Cupid.

"Did he just call you, what I think he called you?" Cisco asked her, as he took a sip of his coffee.  
"You heard that too? What happened while I was away?" Astrid asked him taking a sip of her own.  
"Nothing, actually. He was fine this morning." Cisco shrugged it off.

Barry grew a little sidetracked from finding Cupid as he sped past a street vendor selling flowers. He picked up a beautiful bouquet of roses and left the money on the counter, to pay for them.

He returned to STAR Labs to find Astrid on the phone.  
"Barry." Cisco said, requesting his attention. "Who are they for?" he was referring to the flowers. He had a feeling that they were for their female friend.

Astrid ended her phone call to see Barry waiting for her. He removed his mask. "Barry, what's with the flowers? Never mind, I think Iris will love them. Did you find Cupid?" she asked him. She noticed Cisco staring at them both.

"These flowers are for you, actually." Barry told her. She was surprised, though she didn't take the flowers. "They're beautiful, Barry. But why?"

"I knew that when you told me that you and Oliver broke up that it was because of this… this thing between the two of us." Barry declared, "I want you to know that I feel it too." Barry held the flowers out to her and took a couple of steps forward.

"Woah! Woah! Woah!" Astrid gasped, stepping backwards. "What the hell is going on, Barry? Cisco? Is this some sort of joke that the two of you had planned? It's really not funny!"

Cisco was just as confused as she was. "Barry. Are you ok?" he asked his friend.

"Astrid never married Oliver. They broke up and now we all know why. She wanted for us to be together!" Barry told him.

"Barry… you love Iris!" Cisco tried to remind his friend. "You know? Iris West?"  
While Barry was distracted, Astrid went to call Joe, she needed to inform him of their friend's odd behavior. But as soon as he saw her pull out the phone, Barry's attention was back on her. "Who are you calling, darling?" he asked her.

"Joe, actually." She told him, glancing at Cisco, from over Barry's shoulder. "But I suppose that it can wait. Let me take those flowers and put them in a vase."

She took the flowers from Barry's hands and smelt them. Right now she was afraid of Barry. He was acting very unpredictable and she felt that humoring him, would be the best way to keep him from doing something unstable.

"Cisco. Would you mind calling Caitlin?" Astrid asked as she went to retrieve a vase, "She and Ronnie should be back from their honeymoon by now. Could you also call Joe?" She placed the roses in the vase and smiled over at Cisco, hoping that he had gotten the hint. Fortunately, he had and he had left the room.

Barry was still smiling at her. He stroked the bottom of her chin making her feel all the more uncomfortable. "While Cisco goes to make those phone calls, that will give us enough time to chat. You are so beautiful… Did you know that?" he began.

He inched closer to her ready to give her a kiss. But she took his hand from her face and removed it, automatically pushing it behind him. She wanted to keep him talking. Her psychology instincts had come over her. "So umm… Barry. You said that you wanted to chat… tell me, when did you realize that you had these feelings?" Barry was thrown off guard.

They heard the emergency beeper going off and so Astrid ran towards the computer, relieved to be saved  
by the bell. "Barry, there is an emergency on the corner of banks and woodward. Go and this time no distractions!" she told him, Barry left immediately.

"He won't find an emergency, because I set off a false alarm," Cisco said as he reentered the room. "But what was all that? He was acting all Beyoncé crazy in love with you."  
"Thanks for the quick thinking. I don't know what's wrong with him. I thought the two of you had some sort of prank going for a moment. I think it might have something to do with Cupid. Did you call Caitlin or Joe?" Astrid asked him.

"Caitlin still isn't answering. But Joe will be here as soon as he can." Cisco replied.  
"Good! Because acting like I am in love with Barry is a lot harder than I thought."


	3. Chapter 3

Joe arrived at STAR Labs in under ten minutes to be debriefed by Cisco, over Barry's peculiar behavior. "Where is Cupid's latest victim now?" Joe asked.

"I may have sent him out on a fake emergency, while we figure out how to reverse whatever is going on with him." Cisco replied.

"A fake emergency, while he is acting unstable? Probably not your best plan, Cisco." Joe replied, "but I can understand why. But as I said earlier, he was acting fine when I dropped him off here this morning. How did all this happen?"

Astrid reentered the room holding up both the arrow that Barry had been working on and the one that he had been struck with and said "Before Barry was struck, he said that he had found something besides blood on this arrow. I'm guessing that it is some sort of love potion that Carrie Cutter, aka Cupid got a hold of. My question is how? When I encountered her in Sterling City her arrows were just ordinary. But these ones are somehow potent enough to affect not only meta-humans, but also Barry, who normally has such a remarkable healing ability."

"We found out how it was created…" Joe replied, taking one of the arrows and examining it, "There was a scientist in one of the apartments. She must have shot him after he made her the chemical. I expect that she has been following since you left Sterling City. Would you know why?"

"Revenge," Cisco answered on Astrid's behalf, "Astrid said that this girl was obsessed with Oliver… that would explain it."

"The question isn't why she is doing it. It's how are we going to cure Barry and apprehend a woman who has already escaped police custody?" Astrid told them, "I sent Barry out to find her earlier. He got distracted and came back with a bunch of flowers. Right now he is a liability, and while Caitlin is MIA we need a doctor who specializes in meta-humans to help us find a cure."

"I'm so sorry, you guys! I'm here!" a familiar voice entered the room. It was Caitlin. "I heard everything that you just said and I'm back and ready to get down to work!"

Cisco and Astrid both felt a sigh of relief and rushed to hug their friend. "No time for hugs!" she told them, "Hand me those arrows and let me get to work!" she said. She took both the arrows and ran to her medical bay, and begun analyzing the arrows instantly. Cisco and Astrid were thrown a little off guard at the abruptness that their friend was displaying. It was unlike the Caitlin, that they knew. But they also knew that they needed to be vigilant for Barry's sake.

After a few moments Caitlin had gained an analysis of the red compound. "It looks as if it is a concentrated chemical, made from ingredients caused by the radiation from the meteor shower at a very potent level. Whoever created it knew what they were doing. The upside is, that Barry's body should still fight off the potion a lot quicker than an ordinary person. The downside is… I'm guessing it will take about a week."

"A week?" Astrid said in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me! So I am going to have a love sick Barry Allen on my back for a week. There has got to be a way of curing him!"

"He could always run?" Caitlin shrugged, "It's just a theory, but we need him to break a sweat…"

"But Barry never breaks a sweat…" Cisco replied.  
"That's because he doesn't run fast enough," Caitlin exclaimed. "We get him to run faster than ever before and he should break a sweat. If he sweats enough, the chemical should leave his body quicker. Though it will still take possibly three to four days."

"It's better than a week." Astrid suggested.

"Well, while the lot of you take care of Barry…" Joe began, "I will tell Captain Singh that he has gone home with… food poisoning? That sounds fitting enough… We will catch this Cupid, don't worry!" Joe left STAR Labs and headed to CCPD.

"In the meantime…" Astrid began, as she hurried over to Cisco's computer, sat on his chair and pulled up a browser. Within moments she had opened a full profile on Carrie Cutter and had shown Caitlin and Cisco. "This is the girl we are after!" she told them. "If we see her, we restrain her, whatever means necessary!"

"She is cute." Cisco replied, "I don't normally like it when villains nickname themselves, but she has done it right, this time…"

Astrid glared at her friend… "Cisco. This is not a joking manner. She has managed to turn our greatest asset into a lovesick lapdog. She has excellent aim and she is seeking revenge. We cannot be too careful!"

"You don't need to worry, Astrid. I won't let her harm you…" Barry said, entering the room, giving her a kiss on the cheek and making her flinch. "Oh hi Caitlin. How was your honeymoon? Wouldn't it be amazing if we could go..."

Astrid glared at him, making him stop mid sentence.

Caitlin was just as unsettled with the new Barry as Astrid and Cisco were, "My honeymoon was great… but you, Barry. Who would have thought… You and Astrid would end up together?"

Astrid stood up from where she was sitting. "Barry. I think it's time for you to work on your cardio. What's your latest record?" She was desperate to get her friend back to normal.

Cisco agreed with her. "He made a new record this morning. I think he can beat that."  
Barry was unsure as to why. But he obeyed to keep her happy, and began running as fast as he could on his cosmic treadmill.

"Come on, Barry. You need to break a sweat," Astrid told him after ten minutes. Barry had indeed broken his record, but was still bone dry. Her words of encouragement made him push himself harder than ever, until something that he saw threw him off guard. He tripped and fell off again. This time causing an even bigger dent in the wall than he had done so, earlier.

"I can't do that again!" he demanded.  
"What why?" Astrid asked. "Are you feeling different? How do you feel?" She placed the back of her hand over his dry forehead. Still no perspiration.

"I saw something!" He told his friends, as Caitlin and Cisco had joined them.

Caitlin was now all ears. "What did you see, Barry?" she asked excitedly.  
"I think I was hallucinating. It was like I was at one of those nerd conventions. There was a man all dressed in black with a black animal mask. He looked like a human-sized bat and he was driving this expensive looking black car. There was another man wearing a red and blue suit... with a cape! Caitlin, you and Cisco were fighting. But you were Killer Frost again and Cisco had some sort of power that I have never seen before." Barry explained.

Astrid brought Barry over a seat, made him sit down and checked his pupils with her light-up keyring. Everything looked normal. Barry gazed up at her lovingly again.  
"This isn't working, you guys." Astrid confirmed, "We can't risk Barry's sanity for a theory that may or may not work."

Caitlin was frustrated and tried to protest. "We need to get him to..."

"Caitlin. This isn't like you." Astrid said firmly, "we are not risking Barry's health and that's final!" Cisco and Barry were speechless.  
Caitlin and Astrid never argued, particularly over Barry's health. But here they were.

Astrid looked back over at Barry and smiled as if he were a child. "Why don't we go for a walk Barry. We can go visit Iris." She told him. He agreed and held her hand as they left STAR Labs.


	4. Chapter 4

Astrid brought Barry into Jitters for the sole purpose of getting him to see Iris. She had hoped that him seeing her would make him remember the feelings that he had for the coffee waitress.

"Hi Barry! Hi Astrid. You guys sure are drinking a lot of coffee today. Cisco was just in here earlier. What can I get you both?" Iris asked as the two of them approached her at the counter.

"Just the regular for me and whatever Barry is having." Astrid replied, she paid in advance and went to find a table, leaving Barry to speak with Iris and retrieve the coffees.

As she found a table a guy rushed past her, knocking her and almost spilling hot coffee over her to claim the table as his own. "Hey!" she exclaimed.

All of a sudden, Barry had appeared, placing the man's coffee, on the table with his super speed, and pushed him. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Barry demanded. He began shoving the man. "she was there! Have some respect!"

Astrid tried to get Barry's attention. "Barry. It's fine! You need to relax!"

"Where the hell did you come from?" the man shouted as he went to punch Barry in the fast. Barry gave a quick smile, ducked out of the way, and restrained the man, holding both of his arms behind his back.

Iris had arrived trying to calm them down. "Barry! Barry! You need to let him go." But he ignored her.  
"Barry, please… Let him go!" Astrid said, firmly. Barry smiled at Astrid. He loosened his grip and pushed the man to the floor.

He clambered up to his feet and turned back to Barry. "Next time keep your dog on a lead so she stays out of my way." He told them as he began to run out of the café. Barry attempted to run after him until Astrid grabbed him by the arm.

"Don't bother with him, Bar. My father fired him last year." Astrid instructed.  
"But he disrespected you. I can't allow him to do that." Barry argued.

By now they had caused quite the scene. "You guys," Iris chimed in, "your coffees are ready. The two of you should…"  
"Yeah… we should go, Barry." Astrid finished her sentence as she took their drinks from Iris.  
"I'm sorry! Don't be mad at me, Astrid! Please. Don't be mad at me!" Barry pleaded.  
"Let's just go…" she told him, smiling at Iris politely and dragging him out of the café by his arm.

"I can't believe you just used your powers in public, Barry!" Astrid quietly scolded him as they left the building.

"I'm sorry. I saw him bump into you and it was like I couldn't control myself. Please forgive me. I can change! I'll start now! See? I'm being the very subtle version of myself!" Barry apologized again, as he began tip-toeing around her. Astrid wanted to be mad, but she couldn't help but laugh instead. "Ok, Barry. I'm not mad. But we just can't risk people finding out who you really are. We also need to find the girl who is really out to harm us… Not regular people. Is that clear?"

"Very... I promise!" he replied, as he placed his head on her shoulder, affectionately.

Across the street there was a commotion going on. The two of them stood and watched. Astrid removed her bracelet to probe the thoughts of the people in the crowd.

"I'm sorry! I had to do it! It's the only way for us to be together! I love you!" a girl called out.  
Barry and Astrid barged through the crowd to find a girl weeping over another woman who was unconscious. Astrid looked at Barry. "Flash." She mouthed silently so nobody could hear her, but him.  
He nodded and disappeared for a brief second and came back in his red suit.

"Hey look, it's the Flash!" someone called out.  
He picked up the unconscious girl, to find she had a fresh bleeding wound to her abdomen. But she was still breathing. The Flash took her to the hospital and returned as Barry Allen, as Astrid attempted to cheer up the woman who had been crying over her loved one.

Barry shooed the crowd away, and called Joe, as Astrid questioned the girl as to what had happened.

"I loved her too much…" the girl wept. She pulled something from behind her back. It was metallic and covered with a red substance. It was a blood-stained knife.

Astrid and Barry gasped as they saw it. They immediately realized what had happened.  
"Can I please take that from you?" Astrid asked cautiously.  
"I loved her too much, but she didn't love me…" the girl continued to cry. "So I had to…"  
She brought the blade to her neck, "Please, can I take that from you?" Astrid asked again, but the girl was not listening. It was as if she was in some sort of trance.

Astrid probed the girl's mind. She needed to use her mind control. She focused on the girl's mind and thought the words 'don't do it!' over and over. But it didn't seem to be working.

Barry, once again used his super speed and retrieved the blade from her hands and gave the blade to Astrid, just in time for three police cars to arrive at the scene.

Barry debriefed Joe, while Astrid handed over the blade to the police officers as they arrested the young girl. She was still very much out of her mind, but very calm about the whole thing.

Neither Barry nor Astrid spoke another word until they had reached STAR Labs again, as they were both considering what they had just seen. Astrid was concerned that that could be Barry, especially after the way he had acted in Jitters.

"I take it your little lover's stroll didn't go down to well?" Cisco humored them when he saw them arrive, he regretted his wit the minute he saw their expressions. "Oh God. What happened?" he asked, changing his tone.

"We just helped the police arrest a young lady who was so in love with someone who didn't reciprocate the feelings, that she stabbed her." Barry explained.

Cisco raised his eyebrows in shock as he tried to process that news. "...erm... ok! not what I was expecting..."  
"Oh no! Was the girl ok?" Caitlin asked.  
"We're not sure." Barry replied, "I managed to take her to emergency, but I didn't check on her. I was more concerned for Astrid's welfare."

"Was the girl a meta-human with extra scary powers?" Cisco asked him.  
"No, why?" Astrid spoke up the first time since she had arrived.  
"Well, why else couldn't you hold your own against someone else? Barry knows you can protect yourself!" Cisco said, but Astrid shook her head. Hoping that he had got the message that Barry was acting very protective over her. She didn't want to come out and say it, in case Barry took it the wrong way. Cisco got the hint and didn't press further.

Astrid removed her bracelet again. She needed to communicate with Cisco and Caitlin without Barry hearing. She walked towards her office and sent a thought over to her friends. 'Barry is becoming unstable. He tried to beat up a guy in Jitters.' she thought to them.

Caitlin accidently dropped one of her beakers. She hadn't been expecting Astrid to get into her mind like that. Astrid turned to them both. Cisco had received the message too and was clearly trying to think up a response.

"Are you three ok?" Barry asked them, baffled at their sudden silence and Caitlin's smashed beaker.

"We're fine, Barry! Very fine! There is absolutely nothing going on over here." Cisco stammered.

"Yep, fine, Barry." Astrid replied, putting her bracelet back on. "How 'bout you and I work out a way to track down Cupid. Before she tries to hurt me." Barry was excited at the chance to get some more bonding time with the object of his affections. "I'd be glad to, my love! While we're at it, we could get some wine to share too."


	5. Chapter 5

It was getting late as Joe and Eddie were sitting at CCPD going over a stack of files.  
There had been numerous reports around Central City of people snapping and doing crazy things out of extreme lust for others. There had even been five deaths of late. But there were no reports giving any clues of the female archer's whereabouts.

Eddie was staring at the latest CCTV footage on his computer screen. It was of a man being shot by an arrow in the arm. He flicked to multiple views and could not find the one who had shot the him. "I just don't understand..." He said to Joe, "This archer is very skilled. I can't see her anywhere and she knows what she is doing. Yet she goes by the name of Cupid..."  
"Astrid told me that her full name is Carrie Cutter. She used to work for Sterling City police until she got involved with something that changed her for the worse." Joe explained.

"Carrie Cutter?" Eddie repeated the name. "I've heard of that name, before.  
"You have?" Joe asked him, raising an eyebrow, and waiting for him to elaborate.

"Just an old case. I'd rather not talk about it." Eddie replied, shutting the conversation down.

"When you say that, it makes me feel as if you are hiding something." Joe persisted.  
"It was a top secret case… Cobalt something. Now, can we please, just drop the conversation, for now?" Eddie insisted.

"Ok. We'll drop it… for now… but you owe me a tell-all… Especially because your dating my daughter…" Joe replied.

Eddie nodded, but remained silent as he began dotting the map of Central City, of the locations of where the arrow shootings had occured. "Hey, Joe? Can you take a look at this? Tell me what you think… Tell me this doesn't look like what I think it looks like…"

Joe stood up and walked over to Eddie to see what he had been referring to. He looked over Eddie's shoulder and saw exactly what Eddie was seeing.

"It's almost the shape of a heart… except…" Joe began.  
"Except... its incomplete… This area here, where the point would be is…" Eddie continued speaking, as Joe started calling Barry.

Barry didn't answer, so he called Astrid's phone instead. "Astrid, we figured out what Cupid is doing. She wants to destroy Central City."

Barry, Cisco and Caitlin watched as Astrid spoke on the phone. "Joe. There has got to be some sort of mistake. What reason would she have to destroy Central City? It just doesn't make sense."

"You told me that she wanted revenge for you and Oliver. It has to be something to do with that. I need the lot of you to stay safe. The map plotted to a location. The heart of Central city. We have everyone on the force heading out now. Keep Barry with you." He replied.

"The heart of Central City?" Astrid repeated, unsure as to what he meant.  
"Just stay safe. I'll be in contact with you all soon." Joe said, ending his call.

Too much of that conversation reminded Astrid of the last time she had spoken on the phone to her father.  
"The heart of Central City?" Cisco repeated the words just as she had done.

"Cupid wants to destroy Central City." She told them, very anxious.  
Cisco jumped to his feet, ran to his computer and brought up a bird's eye view of the city's map. "There is nothing that really stands out as the heart of the city. Nothing symbolic!" He said, rather confused over the notion.

"Does anything stand out at all?" Barry asked him, glancing at the screen.

Cisco zoomed in on the map and pulled up what looked like a truck refueling station.  
"It's a refueling station… for large trucks… I think I know what she plans to do…" Cisco said pointing to the screen.

"She's going to blow up the trucks…" Barry said.  
"Oh, God the impact will be…" Caitlin began.

"Devastating…" Astrid finished.

"That's why you lot need to stay here!" Barry told them.  
"Barry! She is doing this for revenge on me. She believes that I married Oliver. I need to set the record straight!" Astrid confirmed.

"No! You need to stay even if I have to make you stay here, I will!" Barry threatened her, making them all gasp.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Astrid said cautiously. Barry was again acting unstable. They needed to find a way to cure him and she prayed that Cupid would have the answer.

"If it is the only way that I can keep you safe, I will keep you here by any means necessary." He told her.

Cisco was ready to defend Astrid's honor, but she subtly held him back. She needed to convince Barry to let her go.

She took hold of Barry's hand and smiled as sweetly as possible, remembering the time that she took the lead in her old school play of Romeo and Juliet. If ever she needed to act, now was the time. She pushed her platonic feelings of Barry to the side and step forward.

"Please, Barry. I can't lose you. She is risking all of Central City, our home. I love you and right now the only way for us to be together is if I talk to her. I need to convince her... I need to manipulate her mind that I am of no threat to her. That Oliver and I are through. Please, Barry. If you want us to be together, please, let me do this…" she said.

Barry's expression softened. He nodded slowly, put on his suit in the blink of an eye and took her with him, to the heart of the city.

Cisco and Caitlin were left standing at STAR Labs. Hearing Astrid speak those words, although he knew that she did not mean them, broke Cisco's heart. But he knew that they were the city's only hope. He only prayed that they would survive the night.


	6. Chapter 6

The entire force surrounded the truck station, raiding nearby vehicles and all the surrounding buildings looking for Carrie Cutter, but she was nowhere to be found. They had requested the entire site be evacuated and now they were feeling as if they had been chasing a false lead.

"We may be barking up the wrong tree," Captain Singh said to Eddie and Joe.  
"No, my instincts tell me that this was her plan." Eddie defended his own assumptions.

"It could be possible that she saw us arrive and decided to give up her plans," Joe replied. "Or she could have it planned for a different time from now."

He saw Astrid's car pull up to the scene. She climbed out of her car and immediately caught the attention of Captain Singh. "What is she doing? She is a civilian, now!" Singh demanded, and stormed towards her.

"Astrid, you no longer work for CCPD. You gave that up when you took over your father's corporation." He told her.

"Captain. I can't leave. I know why Carrie is doing this. I need to reason with her. You need to at least let me try." She argued.

Singh considered this information. She had always proven to be good at her job in the past, and right now she was their best shot. "Ok, fine! But you better be right!" he told her.

"thank you! You won't regret it!" Astrid ran towards Joe, who was also disappointed to see her arrive on the scene. Joe gestured for Eddie to give them some privacy.

"I told you to stay safe and to look out for Barry!" he told her.  
"Joe, you know Barry couldn't stay out of this, and neither can I. It is my fault she is here… Or not here at all? What is going on? Where is she" she asked, puzzled by the lack of action.

"We don't know. We think she might have called off her plans. Wait, where's Barry? You said he was here." Joe questioned her.

"We took a detour on the way here. I figured me arriving with our scarlet speedster would bring on too much attention. But we have our earbuds in." She told him.

"Right now, it might be the attention that we need. Hey, can you do that… mind scan thing? See if you can read her thoughts?"

Astrid smirked… "Now, I'm useful to you…" she joked, as she removed her bracelet and began scanning thoughts.  
She focused on the thoughts from close by, identifying them one by one. Then expanded the distance. "I can hear her. She is in a building. But I'm not sure where. CCPD have ruined her plans, she wasn't expecting for them to catch on this quickly." Astrid had lost the mind link.

"Can you get anything else?" Joe asked her.  
Astrid tried to regain the connection again, but she wasn't getting anything. "She must have moved further away. It works like a satellite connection. Distance affects it."

"So how far away does the connection have to be?" Joe asked her very quickly.  
"Roughly two kilometers. Why?" she replied.

But Joe didn't answer, instead he ran towards Singh. "I think we have a lead." He told him, "Can we run a search of the city, roughly 2-3 kilometers away?"

Though Barry had already done so. "Astrid, you need to tell Joe that I've done a sweep already." He told her through their connection. "I found nothing."

Astrid stared over at Joe and shook her head. "So what? We have lost her?" Joe asked her.

"Astrid, something you just said about satellite connection…" Cisco said through their connection.  
"What about it?" she asked.  
"Could it be possible that satellite is playing as an interference? I'm talkin' bout a high frequency level interference. I mean, you are surrounded by police radios and right down the street is Central City's most listened to radio station. Now, I'm guessing that if you channel the correct frequency you may be able to locate just where our girl is hiding. My bets are on the radio tower… perfect spot to get a good view."

"I'm on it!" Barry told them.  
"No… Don't!" Astrid blurted out.

They listened to the sound of Barry being injured and then they heard another voice through their earpieces. It was the same voice that was now playing out over all of the police radios in the near vicinity.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen! My name is Cupid. I would like to tell you that I have been listening in on all of your conversations… Through your CCPD radios and even the gear being used by our STAR Labs employees. So while you may have all thwarted my little plan, you have not yet won the war… I have injured your heroic scarlet speedster. But don't worry… I only used cardice as the active ingredient… so his legs are just frozen stiff, thanks to the advice of a friend of mine… But by now you may have all established where I am. If you try to raid my little hideout… just know, that I have set a little something up that will blow Central City to smithereens. All I ask is that you bring me the wife of Oliver Queen and then you can all go your merry little ways."

Joe stared at Astrid. Barry was injured. They both knew that it would take him some time to regenerate his speed. Astrid took out her earpiece, threw it to the ground and stepped on it.

"We need to do something, fast." Joe told her.  
"I agree," she told him, as she ran towards her car.  
"What are you doing?" Joe called out.  
"I'm turning myself in." she told him, as she climbed in to her car. Joe ran to the other side and climbed into her passenger side, closing the door behind him. "I'm not letting you throw your life away. You're just a kid!"

"Well then. Buckle up!" she told him as she sped out of the flurry of police cars.

They reached the radio station at the same time as Singh, who put his hand out to stop them from going in.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked them.  
"Where do you think I'm going?" Astrid replied.  
"You're going to throw your life away!" Singh told her.  
"Exactly!" Astrid shot back to him. She noticed his weapon attached to his belt and used her mind control, "I am going up there… and you are going to allow Joe and myself up there… but no one else… You are also going to hand me your weapon, and not be angry about it in the slightest…" she told him.

Captain Singh did as she had instructed him to and stepped aside for the two of them to go through. Once they had, Astrid closed the door behind them.

"I can't believe you just…" Joe began, but he stopped mid-sentence. He was shocked that she had used her powers to manipulate the captain.

"Joe… don't think about it. I did what I had to do. Now let's go help Barry!" she told him as they ran up the long winding stairwell.


	7. Chapter 7

Cisco hacked into the radio station, to receive a live feed of what was going on in the radio tower.  
"We may not be able to give them any directions, but at least we can listen in... And if we're lucky, I might be able to hack into the radio station and broadcast to them." he told Caitlin.  
"I need to step away for a moment, Cisco. Alert me if the situation changes." Caitlin told him, as she left the room, in a rush.  
"Will do." Cisco replied.

Caitlin headed towards the underground carpark and pulled out a small object from her pocket and placed it on the floor. Her entire face and body structure changed, drastically. She had become Eobard Thawne.

"I told you not to come here, Reverb. Now is not the time!" Eobard told the newcomer as he turned to face him. His name was Francisco Ramon, Cisco's doppleganger, from an alternate earth. Though he was wearing a pair of hi-tech goggles to help him with his powers.

"I'm sorry. But I had to. I can't keep living in that shoe box that you call an earth. I want to go back to my world… I saw my other self! He is a real disappointment. He is really wasting his abilities… But don't worry. He never saw me." Reverb replied.

Eobard ran at Francisco with his super ability and threw him to the floor. "You are risking everything by just being here! You will return home when you help me go back to mine. We need Barry's speed. You must leave before the Cisco of this world sees you. Caitlin is no longer a threat to us. But he is just as clever! It is just a matter of time before he finds out!"

"Yeah," Reverb replied as he got back on his feet. "I met the little ice queen. She mistook me for him when we fought. So much for being clever… I wondered how long it would take before you killed her."

"I never killed her. But she is certainly no longer a threat. You need to leave, before you're seen, or I will kill you." Eobard warned.

In an instant, Reverb raised his hand and shot up a blast that sent Eobard flying backwards and toppling over. "Thawne… You can only try… In fact, I dare you to try… But we both know that we only stand a chance if we work together. I will give you a few days, to do what you need to do… But if you don't… I'm taking over… and we will be doing things my way!"

Reverb created a portal using the energy from the palm of his hands and before Eobard could react, he had disappeared out of sight through it.

Eobard dusted himself off and picked up his shape shifter tool, back off the floor. Once again, he took the form of Caitlin Snow. Caitlin returned back to level 97 to find Cisco still focusing on his radio connection.

"How is Barry doing?" she asked.  
"Cupid is toying with him… According to Cupid, Barry and Joe are on their way... So where did you go?" Cisco directed the question right at her.

"I had to check on the progress of one of our projects on the lower floors…" Caitlin said, though Cisco wasn't buying it. "Yeah, a project in the carpark."

"Yeah… sorry I had to go out to my car too. I couldn't remember if I locked it this morning." she said, hoping that he did not find out her true identity.

Cisco stared intently at Caitlin. "Sure… can you hand me that marker over there? I have a theory about all this stuff with Barry's speed and I just want to write it all out… You know, get it all out on paper… well the board…"

Caitlin handed the marker over to Cisco, and the moment their hands came in to contact, his face grew a blank expression. He was getting a vision.

In his vision he saw himself speaking with a man who resembled Eddie, in the smallest of ways. But it wasn't Eddie. The man ran at him with the same ability as Barry. He was a speedster. But unfortunately, that was all that he had seen.

"Cisco. What did you see?" Caitlin asked him, anxiously.  
"Er… nothing…" Cisco stammered, "…I didn't see anything…" he was unsure as to why he didn't see Caitlin in the vision. He was afraid to ask any more questions.

Fortunately, he didn't need to. He heard Astrid and Joe's voice through his computer speakers. They were now meeting with Cupid right now.

"Oh yeah! It's about to go down!" Cisco called out as he directed his attention back to the radio feed. Caitlin continued to stare at Cisco.

What had Cisco seen in his vision? This had been a close call, and Eobard couldn't afford to have any more, close calls. Impersonating Caitlin was becoming very risky at this point, Cisco was bound to find out the truth… He needed to eliminate that risk.

Astrid and Joe made it to the top floor, where they had come face to face with Cupid. They held their weapons high and aimed them at the archer, known as Cupid, as she held up her bow, pointing an arrow right at Astrid's head.

Joe raced to Barry's side, where he was sitting on the floor trying to phase his leg to warm it up.

"You wanted me… I'm here!" Astrid told Cupid firmly, "I don't want to shoot you, but I will if I have to. So let the Flash go free and tell us what you have planned for the city. I won't let you hurt anyone."

"Hey! I make the rules here!" Cupid snapped, she pointed her bow at Joe and released an arrow. The arrow just skimmed Joe's head

"Ok! You make the rules…" Astrid said quickly, pointing her weapon at the roof, but not letting it go. "Just don't hurt them, Ok? What did you want me for?"

"I am surprised that you are not with your husband, Oliver, as a devoted wife should be…" Cupid told her.

"No, I'm not. Oliver and I broke up. We never got married." Astrid confirmed. She tried to use her mind control, though it was not working. She was getting desperate.

"I don't believe you. You DESTROYED my chance of happiness when you married Oliver Queen. So I am about to destroy all of yours. By now you may have realized that you can't use your mind control on me… I must say I came prepared. So I will tell you my plan, because there is nothing that you can do about it, except watch your entire city destroy itself. If you shoot me, my laqueys will know, and they will finish what we started. Somewhere in this city, is a gas tank, filled not only with gas, but also a special chemical… the one your friend got in the way of at STAR Labs. Though it has been mixed with another ingredient, a drug that will increase a person's rage. Once it is released the entire city will be overwhelmed with a beautiful combination of lust and rage. It will destroy itself before your very eyes."

"No! You need to believe me! Oliver is yours. I know that I can't use my mind control, but I can make you believe me! It's the truth! Oliver and I can't be together. We broke up." Astrid pleaded.

A smile came across Carrie's face. "You don't love Oliver. How did I not realize it until now? You're telling me the truth. Who is it? Killing them will destroy you more than any other plan that I can come up with… Or I can dose him up with my special love potion so that he doesn't even think about you…"

Astrid bit her bottom lip. She wasn't going to give that secret up. She looked over at Joe and the Flash. Joe gave her a look to tell her that Barry's leg was healing quickly.

"Let's not worry about who I have feelings for. I can convince Oliver to date you. I can even use my mind control to make him love you." Astrid bluffed.

She hoped that Carrie would buy into her lie, but she didn't. "Stop Lying!" She yelled at Astrid as she aimed the arrow at her head. "He will never truly love me! I want to hear you plead for me not to kill the one you love. I want you to beg me."

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the surrounding speakers. Someone had hacked into Central City's radio station. "Good evening folks! This is Cisco Ramon and you're listening to the showdown between our heroes and Cupid… and nope she isn't some silly animated angel baby carrying a comedic big red heart."

"What does he think he is doing?" Cupid screamed. Just in time for Barry's leg to have healed completely. He ran at Cupid angrily and knocked her into a set of speakers, letting off a large sound of interference. Fortunately, it did not stop Cisco's broadcast.

"Cisco! The Flash is free!" Astrid exclaimed, as a smile crossed her face. "We need a plan. We need to find the gas tanks."

"It's too late!" Cupid exclaimed, with a laugh. "You have exactly two minutes until they explode. You better act fast!"


	8. Chapter 8

Barry's leg was finally free from the cold spell that the arrow had released when it had sunk into it. He couldn't remember the last time that he had phased so much in all his life and right now the entire room around him had stood still. He still had this unthinkable obsession for his friend Astrid that he could not shake off. Right now she was being threatened, by Cupid. He would not stand for that.

Joe was kneeling right next to him, though his back was turned. The detective was ready to strike if the archer did something stupid. Astrid was holding a weapon. Uh oh. After last time, Barry was frightened for her wellbeing. She could certainly be ruthless if she needed to, but she would pay for it emotionally.

All of a sudden, the room was moving at a regular pace again. He could hear Caitlin's voice in his ear. Clearly, Cisco had created another channel so she could direct him without being overheard.  
Barry informed Caitlin off Carrie's plans, as quietly as he could. But it was as if Caitlin had already known.

"Barry. Don't ask me how I know this, but Cupid has an alert set to detonate the gas tanks. When she is thrown off guard, they will explode in two minutes…" she replied.

"They? But she said there was only one?" Barry replied.  
"No, there is a second. It was in case things went wrong with the other one. You will need to run faster than you have ever done before. You will need to circle each of the gas tanks. This will create a vortex, that will lift the objects off the ground and then you can use this energy to transfer them over to the ocean. You can do this Barry. Everyone is counting on you." Caitlin said.

'What did she just say? What does she expect me to do? That is impossible!' Barry thought to himself. All of a sudden, he heard Cisco's voice broadcast over the entire radio station. "Good evening folks! This is Cisco Ramon and you're listening to the showdown between our heroes and Cupid… and nope she isn't some silly animated angel baby carrying a comedic big red heart."

It threw Cupid off guard as she was distracted. "What does he think he is doing?" She screamed out. Before Barry could run to find the gas tanks, something came over him that he could not control. He knocked her over into a pile of speakers as an attempt to help Astrid in some way. Then as he heard Astrid scream out, that he was free, He ran to go and find the gas tanks.

Cisco managed to send the feed of the radio station to his earpiece so he could continue to listen to the action, in case Joe or Astrid had to give him directions.

Barry scanned the city, faster than ever before. "I can't see the gas tanks anywhere." He told Caitlin.  
"Look for something that seems out of the ordinary. It could be heavily guarded. And you have one minute and thirty seconds, Barry. Go!" Caitlin ordered.

"Ok, I found it!" Barry exclaimed. "So what just run around it?" The tank was huge and there were a few people standing around it, anxiously. Clearly, they were Cupid's men, they were frozen in time.  
"That's exactly it…Run around it. You need to propel it up in to the air. Run to decrease its weight." Caitlin ordered.

"Ok, here goes nothing." Barry said as he ran faster than ever, encircling the large metal tank. The men surrounding it were thrown to the floor by the force of energy.

"Ok folks," Cisco's voice rang out throughout the city, "an update on our lovable hero in red… He has found the first tank. Please, if you are in the near vicinity of what you think might be the second tank, do not hesitate to call Central City Police department within the next minute, to help!"

Barry was marveled as the tank began to lift. "You guys! It's lifting off the ground… It's getting higher. Wow! I can't believe this! Woo!" Barry stammered.

"Don't stop running, Barry. And start phasing your entire body! You need enough force to push the tank towards the ocean… One minute and ten seconds!" Caitlin ordered, as he heeded her words and managed to bring the gas tank out into the ocean within a matter of seconds.

"Barry. You can do this!" Astrid prayed out aloud, unaware if he could hear her or not. Joe had restrained Cupid and was calling for back up. While the two of them were distracted, Cupid managed to break free and shot an arrow, into Astrid's arm, making her drop her weapon to the floor. "Argh!" she called out as she dropped to the floor. There was a sound of a gunshot, just as Cupid shot out another arrow this time aiming for her head.

The noise startled Astrid, making her move her head to see that Joe had shot at Carrie, bringing her to the floor, only wounded. The arrow skimmed past Astrid's face, scraping her cheek and passing her hair as it glided past.

Barry had reappeared and seeing that she and Joe were both ok, he brought them back to STAR Labs to keep them as safe from Cupid as he could. He knew that he needed to go back to finding this other tank. He had forty-five seconds left and he prayed that he could make it in time.

He found it in the Eastside of town, located on the corner of Jaxon and Warner. Once again he began encircling it, faster than ever before. He knew that the entire town were fearing for what was to come at that very moment. Barry feared that everyone he loved could be affected at any moment, if he failed. He thought of Astrid, Iris, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin and his father Henry at iron Heights.

The tank lifted and once again he phased his entire body, pushing the tank towards the ocean where he had pushed the first. It moved slowly, but at least it moved.

Barry reached the beach side, twenty seconds left. He kept going and going. He was feeling exhausted, but nonetheless he didn't stop until he was ten kilometers out from land. One second left. He had made it… He wondered how bad the chemicals would affect him. He began to run back to land, when he felt the pressure, the energy surging from behind him. He kept running and running.

He made it to the sand as he felt the impact. It was strong enough to bring him to the ground. He fell on to the soft sand, hard. Before he closed his eyes, the thought crossed his mind. 'Wow, I just walked on water!'


	9. Chapter 9

Caitlin bandaged up Astrid's arm, after removing the lodged arrow. "How does everyone feel?" she asked the group who were gathered at STAR Labs.

"I don't feel like raging out." Cisco replied.  
"Me neither, but my arm hurts though. It must have worked." Astrid replied, as Caitlin cleaned up and dressed the blood on her cheek.

"I feel fine too. Shouldn't Barry be back yet?" Joe replied.

"He should be. Ow Caitlin, you're getting sloppy with your dressings." Astrid said.  
Caitlin stared at Astrid. Just because Eobard was impersonating Caitlin, it didn't mean, he shared her skills or her emotions that she did. She didn't say anything.

"I think we should go find him." Astrid continued. "I'm concerned he may have been caught in the blast zone."

Cisco ran a scan of Central City for radioactivity on his computer. "It looks like the energy ended at the sand level. He could be there. We should take the van out. Is your arm ok for you to go, Astrid? That arrow was deep."

Astrid shrugged it off and led them to one of STAR Labs vans, where Joe drove them all to the water's edge where Barry was last known to go.

"I think I see him!" Cisco declared, "Over there. Look!" Barry was unconscious so Joe lifted him up and loaded him in to the van, which returned right back to STAR Labs.

Two hours later, Barry was hooked up to the wires in Caitlin's med bay as Astrid and Cisco waited for him to regain consciousness. Joe had reported back to CCPD to put in his report of tonight's event and return Captain Singh's weapon.

"Where did Caitlin go?" Astrid asked Cisco.  
"She said something about taking care of a few things, but she assured me that Barry would be fine. Somehow she really knows more then she normally knows, right now… you know?" Cisco replied.

"I think I know what you're talking about. But it has been a long day and a long night and with Barry and his weird… well the way he has been acting lately… I don't want to try and understand. So please explain." Astrid said tiresomely.

"Ok. Well… It's like she knows more about Barry then we have even learnt about him ourselves. She knows more about Barry then he knows about himself too… and how did she know what Barry needed to do to save us all tonight? She has been acting weird ever since she came back from her honeymoon." Cisco.

"What are you insinuating here? Cisco. Caitlin is fine. You know her… she has probably been thinking up all these theories while she was away."

"…But that's another thing. Where is Ronnie? He never returned. She hasn't even spoken about him, or about her trip away… and you know me, I like to ask."

Astrid considered what her friend was saying, it began to dawn on her. He was right, Caitlin was acting different. Even her first aid skills had changed.

"Ok, suppose there is something to what you're saying." She replied, "What do you think is going on? Do you think she is Killer Frost in disguise? What can we do? Confronting her could make her unstable, and right now we can't really defend ourselves. Can we? I mean, Barry is unconscious and you saw how scary Killer Frost was last time."

"I get where you're coming from. But you could at least probe her mind. See what you can find out. Besides, that whole mind blast thing you did to Grodd, that was pretty cool. We're not exactly defenseless." Cisco said.

"Ok. I think we should just drop this conversation for now. Right now we need to consider what we can do for Barry. We don't know how much of that radiation affected him. He could wake up pretty scary." Astrid said, feeling anxious.

"I'm certain he was outside the blast zone." He told her, as he put an arm around her to comfort her.  
"You're sure? He seems pretty out of it to me. It looks like it affected him a bit." She told him. She noticed the tension in the air. It made her feel a little awkward that she was standing that close to him after coming to terms with how she felt about him. She was close enough to kiss him.

But the second that she was about to, he was gone. She had to blink to see what had actually happened. Barry had awoken from his unconscious state and was beating up Cisco at full speed!

"Barry! Barry! What are you doing?" she screamed at him. He was in a pure rage. It seemed the radiation had affected him, a whole lot. "Barry! You need to stop, you're hurting him!" she shrieked. But he wouldn't stop.

Astrid did the only thing she could do. She grabbed Barry by the shoulders and kissed him, distracting him from the crumpled up Cisco in the corner.

A moment passed and they pulled their faces away. Astrid prayed that it meant that her friend was back to normal. "Astrid…" Barry began, "What is going on? Why are you…"

"Barry, thank god! You're back to normal! You need to get Cisco back to the hospital… now!" She demanded.

Barry turned to see Cisco lying unconscious on the floor. He gasped when he realized that he was the one responsible. In a blink of an eye he took him to the emergency department at the hospital.

Barry called Joe from the hospital and informed him of Cisco's condition.  
"He is going to be ok," Joe said, and then cheered him up by saying, "you saved the whole city tonight. I'm glad that you're ok. You also don't seem so out of your mind, anymore. How did that happen?"

"I realized that kissing Astrid would be like kissing a sister…" Barry replied with a laugh.  
"Oh, well I suppose that might be a good thing… yet, you still pine over Iris… I really don't understand you." Joe replied, "Don't worry, I'm sure that Cisco will be fine. He's at the hospital. He is in good hands. Also, you can tell Astrid that Cupid was locked away and there is no way she can escape."

"That's great!" Barry replied, he just hoped that Cisco would be ok.

As Astrid waited for Caitlin to return, she subtly removed her bracelet and placed it into her pocket. She pulled down her sleeves so it would not be noticed, that it was not there.

When Caitlin finally arrived, she asked. "Where's the guys?"  
"Barry awoke in a rage. Cisco is in hospital." Astrid replied as she tried to focus on Caitlin's mind. However, she got the same response that she normally got when she was trying to read Barry's mind and he wasn't allowing her. It was as if Caitlin did not want her to read her mind.

This had never happened before. Even when Caitlin had turned into Killer Frost, Astrid could still read her mind. It occurred to her. That Cisco was right. This was not their friend, Caitlin. So then, who was it really?


	10. Chapter 10

A few days passed and Cisco had recovered well enough to return to work. That morning, as per his usual routine, he entered Jitters, ordered three cups of coffee, One for Astrid, one for Caitlin and one for himself.

On the television, the news was celebrating The Flash's heroic rescue. The entire town had witnessed when he had taken the tanks to the ocean where they had exploded. STAR Labs, as Cisco had predicted, was now publicly connected to the Flash. Astrid was currently giving an interview, telling them that even they did not know the Flash's true identity. It made Cisco laugh.

"You guys are heroes." Iris told him.  
"Us?" Cisco asked her.  
"Yeah, we all heard the voice of Cisco Ramon. I don't think the Flash could have done it without you guys." She replied.

"You're no longer calling him the streak?" he asked.

"Nope. I think Barry is right. The Flash sounds much better. I even called him that in my latest blog. You should check it out!"  
"I will!" he told her as, he went to pay for the coffees. But Iris refused to take his money. "It's on the house. You guys deserve it!"

"Thanks!" he replied, taking them and leaving Jitters. He took them and headed up to the 97th floor at STAR Labs. Other employees questioned him as per the bruises on his face. He told them that that they were due to helping fight Cupid and her men in hand to hand combat. Some of them believed it, making his ego grow all the more. He was in a great mood!

When he finally arrived at the open plan office, where he worked, he placed the coffees on the desk, switched on his computer and typed in his password.

"I was wondering when you would finally show, Francisco Ramon…" A voice made him jump.  
"Actually the name is…Woah!" he stammered as he saw who had spoken. He stood up immediately and slowly pointed at the man who had entered. "Dopple…" he began.  
"…ganger!" Reverb replied.

The resemblance was uncanny, despite the man's 'bad-boy fashion sense, compared to Cisco's dress sense. A black Star Wars shirt and a beige pair of pants. Cisco for the first time ever was at a loss for words.

"You're speechless…" Reverb replied, "…I would imagine that that is a rarity in this world. Nonetheless, I need you to listen, not talk. A friend of mine needs Barry to get faster for us to return back to our own homes. You, unfortunately are just getting in the way. But right now, I am not actually in the mood to kill you. So I will make a deal with you… you do as I say and I will not hurt you, or your friends. But if you refuse… I may not have a choice… and I can assure you, I will not go easy on any of you… including that Sutherland girl… what do you say? Do we agree?"

Cisco was trying to find the right words to use, plus he was in shock. "I guess… I guess that I have very little choice. If you only want to return home, and you promise not to hurt us…" he sighed in defeat, "what do you need me to do?"

Reverb smiled. "Very clever, Cisco. I simply want to show you a trick."

"A trick? What sort of…" Before Cisco's eyes, Reverb created a portal using his bare hands.  
"That is soo cool!" Cisco gasped, "my vision… alternate worlds are real… Are you saying that we can do that?"

Reverb nodded. "Do you want to see what is on the other side, Cisco?"

"You mean… I can… step right through?" Cisco asked, "…wait, how can I trust you? This is all so very mirror mirror… You know… the whole different world on the other side of the reflection."

"I know that you're a very trustworthy person, Cisco. Remember, we are the same person… in a way… Go right ahead, step through the portal. See for yourself!"

Cisco was overcome with a large sense of curiosity, he stepped through the portal and before he could turn around, Reverb closed it behind him. So that Reverb was the only one left standing in the office on the 97th floor.

"That was easier than I expected." Reverb said out loud, "…and by the time he learns how to get himself out of there, he won't have a life left to come back to."


End file.
